All:

I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful weekend! Yesterday I spent a very enjoyable day walking around campus, relaxing by the Woody Woo fountain, and having Bent Spoon (the ricotta, lavender, and earl grey flavors are incredible together, fyi). Highly recommended!

The votes are in and Digging to America won out by a very small margin, though it’s been on the list for a long time and consistently gets votes, so I think it should be a popular choice.

I won’t be at the meeting, but if anyone would like to volunteer to “lead” the meeting, please feel free to do so. I will send an email once the room is confirmed.

Book: Digging to America by  Anne Tyler

Time/Date: May 18, 7pm

Location: East Pyne 111

Lastly, I haven’t received any suggestions for a non-fiction read for June, or any comments on preferences re: continuing to meet throughout the summer or take a hiatus and tackle a longer read for a September meeting. Please let me know if you have any strong preference (and if you remember, please copy Chip (cjerry@jerrylaw.com).

In anticipation of a June meeting, I’m going to go ahead and provide the current list of non-fiction selections below. Feel free to send in your votes. If you have a different suggestion, feel free to send to the entire group.

All the best,

Linsay

The Cosmic Web by Professor J. Richard Gott

J. Richard Gott was among the first cosmologists to propose that the structure of our universe is like a sponge made up of clusters of galaxies intricately connected by filaments of galaxies—a magnificent structure now called the "cosmic web" and mapped extensively by teams of astronomers. Here is his gripping insider’s account of how a generation of undaunted theorists and observers solved the mystery of the architecture of our cosmos.The Cosmic Web begins with modern pioneers of extragalactic astronomy, such as Edwin Hubble and Fritz Zwicky. It goes on to describe how, during the Cold War, the American school of cosmology favored a model of the universe where galaxies resided in isolated clusters, whereas the Soviet school favored a honeycomb pattern of galaxies punctuated by giant, isolated voids. Gott tells the stories of how his own path to a solution began with a high-school science project when he was eighteen, and how he and astronomer Mario Juri? measured the Sloan Great Wall of Galaxies, a filament of galaxies that, at 1.37 billion light-years in length, is one of the largest structures in the universe. (http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10539.html) 

On Inequality by Professor Harry Frankfurt, former professor of philosophy at Princeton. Professor Frankfurt is also known for his book, "On Bullshit" In Brief: Very short, addresses a more practical philosophical question than which way to throw the train switch, and is likely to engender an interesting discussion. "On Inequality comprises two journal articles, ‘Equality as a Moral Ideal’ and ‘Equality and Respect’, the former first published nearly three decades ago...In the first section Frankfurt argues that inequality of wealth is not inherently immoral. We have a duty, he says, to ensure that no one goes without life’s necessities, a duty that does not entail my earning the same as Taylor Swift. In part two, Frankfurt makes an interesting argument about the nature of respect. He distinguishes between treating people equally, which in his view is not morally necessary, and treating them with respect, which is. By ‘respect’ he means due regard for people in light of their particular qualities, and so on, though he acknowledges that some of these qualities are universal: the need for food, shelter and so on. We all deserve to have enough to eat and to have roofs over heads; we do not all deserve to be treated with solemn pomp." (http://new.spectator.co.uk/2015/10/the-best-thing-about-harry-g-frankfurts-on-inequality-is-the-paper-its-printed-on/)

The Politics of Pain: by Keith Wailou (vice dean of the Woodrow Wilson School). The book examines changing cultural and political attitudes in the US toward pain and pain relief strategies from the 1950s (when issues arose for treatment of many wounded WW II veterans) till the present (including use of drugs -- e.g. cannabis -- in cancer treatment and other conditions. The author looks at attitudes of the left ("right to die" proponents) and the anti-abortion right ("fetal pain"), how the American Medical Association's position has influenced political choices, etc. It is an eye-opening book, about 300 pp I think (so manageable), and written for the general audience, not specialists.

Unfinished Business by Anne Marie Slaughter '80 In Brief: "The conversation about work-life balance took on new heat when foreign policy expert Anne-Marie Slaughter wrote an article for The Atlantic about her own trade-offs. And women from all corners of industry have weighed in since. Slaughter's viral article chronicled her own choice to leave a high-powered job in Washington and go home to New Jersey and take care of her family. She digs deeper into the familiar struggle in her new book, Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family."(http://www.npr.org/2015/09/27/443814662/unfinished-business-when-working-families-can-t-do-it-all)